TT cyclists continue to progress in 2021 despite pandemic woes

AMIDST AN array of challenges owing to the pandemic, Trinidad and Tobago cycling continues to pedal forward, both on and off the track.

Competitively, the nation’s elite cyclists produced several breakthrough performances on the international circuit, particularly from Olympic debutants Nicholas Paul, Kwesi Browne (track) and Teniel Campbell (road).

Administratively, the TT Cycling Federation (TTCF) began a lengthy process to have the National Cycling Centre (NCC) in Couva attain official International Cycling Union (UCI) satellite centre status, possibly by 2025.

However, the local cycling fraternity remains starved for domestic competition owing to government’s covid19 restrictions. Only those who qualified for international competition, in all sports, were allowed to train, travel and compete.

This meant that cyclists, mainly juveniles and juniors, were forced to place their development on the back burner, in anticipation of a possible lift on local restrictions, which to date, remain intact.

It’s been 21 months since the TTCF last hosted a competitive event because of the pandemic.

But with unexpected covid19 surges and the rise of new variants, athletes and sport administrators are uncertain of what the future holds for local sport.

TTCF president Rowena Williams remains optimistic for a possible restart but maintains the health and safety of the nation’s athletes is of top priority.

“All in all, the federation is in a good standing going forward and a lot more is planned for 2022. The plan to have the NCC approved as a UCI satellite centre is a work-in progress.

“We continue to have conversations with the Ministry of Sport and Community Development and UCI, making sure we put things in place to make it fully established.

“We do have the event calendar ready for 2022 prepared. Cyclists have been advised of the preliminary plans for competitions next year.

“We do plan to have some road racing and track events happening from January/February but those events depend on covid19 restrictions,” she said.

Although optimistic, Williams expressed concern with the federation’s TT$1 million-plus debt which her administration inherited after being appointed in February.

She confirmed that because the TTCF was unable to host any national events since her appointment, the debt still looms.

“Basically we knew we had a big debt on our hands and we still have, and some of our priorities were pushed back because of the pandemic. We couldn’t do anything this year to deal with that (debt).

“We’re still going out there seeking assistant partnerships with organisations. We’ve just completed our marketing plan so we are looking at targeting some sponsors and corporate partners to enable our cyclists to go out and do what they do,” she added.

Williams however, sought to highlight the many achievements of those cyclists who were lucky enough to compete on the international circuit.

At the Summer Games, Paul, current men’s flying 200m world record holder, placed sixth in the men’s sprint and 12th in the keirin. Compatriot Browne was 30th in the former and put on a brazen display to secure ninth in the latter.

After the quadrennial meet, Paul continued his hectic season by competing at the Nations Cup in Cali, Colombia (September), World Championships in Roubaix, France (October) and all four legs of the Champions League in November and December (Spain, Lithuania and London).

At the Nations Cup, the speedster completed a golden sweep in the sprint, keirin and 1km time trial, captured TT’s second ever World Championships medal – 1km time trial silver – and earned sprint silver at the Champions League second leg in Lithuania.

After the four-stage Champions League series, he finished sixth overall.

Following his tumultuous year of racing, Paul said, “This was a great year for me. I would always give thanks to God first because without Him it would not be possible.

“Starting with the Olympics Games; sixth in the sprint and 12th in the keirin, my first ever World Champs medal and a golden sweep at the Nations Cup.

“I give thanks to my family, for TT, all my supporters around the world, the Ministry of Sport and TT Olympic Committee.

“Now it’s just to keep it running into 2022. My big goals for next year would be to race at the Commonwealth Games (July/August) and the World Track Cycling Championships (October).”

Meanwhile TT pro cyclist Campbell showed grit in the grueling 137km road race but was unable to finish the challenging course, which featured a battling ascent of around 2,700 metres. She was however, the first Caribbean female cyclist to compete in this event at this level.

Similarly, Campbell went on to grab silver in the Pan American Road Cycling Championships in Dominican Republic in late August.

On their performances, Williams said, “Those Olympic athletes made their debut and it was one for us to be proud of. They stepped up their game and see now they are forces to be reckoned with on the international stage. Nicholas went on to do a bit more after the Olympics and we’re very proud of his achievements.

“Teniel, heading into the Pan Am Road Championships after Olympics and achieving silver in the road race, continues to open doors and avenues for our young athletes both locally and in the Caribbean. A lot of our Caribbean cyclists look up to TT cyclists because of where there are and their performances.”

Also, at the inaugural Junior Pan Am Games in Colombia last month, youngsters Michael Ackee, Tariq Woods and US-based Sylese Christian all made their respective international debuts.

They were joined by another junior, Zion Pulido, who earlier in the year, was featured at the Elite Pan American Cycling Championships (September in Cali, Colombia). Although the quartet was unable to finish among the medals, Williams was pleased the group efforts on the track.

“We are very proud of the performances of all our cyclists. Every single one of them. Even though some of them didn’t medal, their performances definitely were impressive.

“We had some persons doing some personal best times. Even the young team going out to the Junior Pan American Games was a great opportunity for them,” she said.

Additionally at the Elite Pan Ams, TT’s two-time Olympian Njisane Phillip, Pulido and Keron Bramble grabbed team sprint silver while endurance cyclists Akil Campbell won gold in the men’s scratch race and Alexi Costa secured bronze in the women’s equivalent.

Looking ahead, Williams said, “A lot has been transpiring where the federation is moving. We did a lot, having come in as the new executive in 2021 to 2024, the executive team had a lot to come in and work on.

“We have early competition coming up for our elite cyclists in April for the Nations Cup event which will be TT’s first international event. We have a lot to plan for. We continue to ask for support from everyone.”

She confirmed however, that the inability to train has had a negative effect on the younger generation of potential riders.

“What we have had is a lot of the young ones like Under-12s showing a drop in registration because of the restrictions in that age group and parental concern as well.”

Williams closed, “We had some positive focus for 2021 for the federation. Administratively, we were still able to get some policies completed and do some background work in the interim of not having cycling locally.

“This year we did a recruitment drive for female cyclists which was also a success. We were able to recruit a number of new female cyclists into the sport. We’re on to good things and are heading in the right direction.

“We also have to work on a lot of the athletes mentally because covid19 has not been good to them. It has taken a toll on them, especially the young people.

“We hope that things ease up for us and hope to host more events to allow the spectators and supporters to see the cyclists back out.”